Wastewater - Revision history

Countrymike at 01:34, 2 January 2010

2010-01-02T01:34:44Z

Fra99le: Added links to cbconsult.co.nz which has the relevant info

2009-01-20T02:44:19Z

Added links to cbconsult.co.nz which has the relevant info

Fra99le: Formatting

2009-01-07T01:03:34Z

Formatting

Fra99le: First go at page - could probably be developed significantly

2009-01-07T01:02:51Z

First go at page - could probably be developed significantly

New page

Waiheke wastewater is treated and disposed on-site. There has been pressure towards [[reticulation]], but the community has resisted this.

There are a number of different systems which can be used to treat wastewater to different levels. The treated wastewater is then applied to the land where the water and nutrients can be beneficially reused (remembering that Waiheke has a restricted [[water]] supply, due to the use of rainwater tanks for collection). Traditionally septic tanks were used and these are perfectly adequate under many conditions, achieving full treatment of the wastewater in combination with a drainage field (soakage field). They do suffer if undersized, or if too much greywater is introduced (e.g. from automatic washing machines), or if the drainage field is not well-located, designed and installed. Also the indiscriminate use of household chemicals can cause failures. Due to some instances of poor perfomance, most new dwellings now need to install a secondary treatment system, which is typically an AWTS (see below). Secondary treatment effectively brings the treatment that would be achieved in the soil into the treatment system, so that dripline irrigation can be used and so that poor soils and high water tables are less of a problem and there is less risk of ground or surface water contamination. It is important to note that an AWTS still contains an initial septic tank, so the same problems as described for septic tanks can occur, leading to costly maintenance issues and under-performance. Some other system designs are also available which do not contain a septic tank stage, or which use a more resilient process, often at higher cost unfortunately. However, capital expenditure can be dwarfed by maintenance costs when systems are poorly designed, specified, installed or operated, so they may represent a better option in the long run. Many of these systems use less power as well. In some cases (e.g. large sections) it is still possible to install a conventional septic tank and when designed properly, they are not an inferior system.

== Caring for your system ==

''(information needs to be added here)''

== System types ==
''(the following will link to informational pages, once added)''

Septic Tank

Aerated Wastewater Treatment System (AWTS)

Media filters/reactors

Vermicomposting Units/Humus Ecology Filters

== Wastewater consultants resident on Waiheke Island ==
Craig Brown - [http://www.cbconsult.co.nz/]

Tim Rimmer ''(check with Tim if he wants his contact details on here!)''

There are a number of consultants who operate from Auckland and travel to Waiheke to do wastewater design work.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:34, 2 January 2010
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	There are a number of consultants who operate from Auckland and travel to Waiheke to do wastewater design work.		There are a number of consultants who operate from Auckland and travel to Waiheke to do wastewater design work.
		+
		+	[[Category:Sustainability]]

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 == System types ==
-Septic Tank
+The following links are to an external site where there is some information about the system type and some user comments. It is encouraged to submit your own experiences with each system type:
-Aerated Wastewater Treatment System (AWTS)
+Septic Tank[http://cbconsult.co.nz/2008/12/08/septic-tank/]
-Media filters/reactors
+Aerated Wastewater Treatment System (AWTS)[http://cbconsult.co.nz/2008/12/08/aerated-wastewater-treatment-system/]
-Vermicomposting Units/Humus Ecology Filters
+Media filters/reactors[http://cbconsult.co.nz/2008/12/08/media-filtersreactors/]
 == Wastewater consultants resident on Waiheke Island ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Waiheke wastewater is treated and disposed on-site. There has been pressure towards [[reticulation]], but the community has resisted this.
-There are a number of different systems which can be used to treat wastewater to different levels. The treated wastewater is then applied to the land where the water and nutrients can be beneficially reused (remembering that Waiheke has a restricted [[water]] supply, due to the use of rainwater tanks for collection). Traditionally septic tanks were used and these are perfectly adequate under many conditions, achieving full treatment of the wastewater in combination with a drainage field (soakage field). They do suffer if undersized, or if too much greywater is introduced (e.g. from automatic washing machines), or if the drainage field is not well-located, designed and installed. Also the indiscriminate use of household chemicals can cause failures. Due to some instances of poor perfomance, most new dwellings now need to install a secondary treatment system, which is typically an AWTS (see below). Secondary treatment effectively brings the treatment that would be achieved in the soil into the treatment system, so that dripline irrigation can be used and so that poor soils and high water tables are less of a problem and there is less risk of ground or surface water contamination. It is important to note that an AWTS still contains an initial septic tank, so the same problems as described for septic tanks can occur, leading to costly maintenance issues and under-performance. Some other system designs are also available which do not contain a septic tank stage, or which use a more resilient process, often at higher cost unfortunately. However, capital expenditure can be dwarfed by maintenance costs when systems are poorly designed, specified, installed or operated, so they may represent a better option in the long run. Many of these systems use less power as well. In some cases (e.g. large sections) it is still possible to install a conventional septic tank and when designed properly, they are not an inferior system.
+There are a number of different systems which can be used to treat wastewater to different levels. The treated wastewater is then applied to the land where the water and nutrients can be beneficially reused (remembering that Waiheke has a restricted [[water]] supply, due to the use of rainwater tanks for collection). Traditionally septic tanks were used and these are perfectly adequate under many conditions, achieving full treatment of the wastewater in combination with a drainage field (soakage field). They do suffer if undersized, or if too much greywater is introduced (e.g. from automatic washing machines), or if the drainage field is not well-located, designed and installed. Also the indiscriminate use of household chemicals can cause failures.
 == Caring for your system ==